A game of two halves for MK Dons this season

The old footballing cliches might just be rooted in fact this season for MK Dons.

Conceding first has been Dons' Achille's Heel this season, particularly in the opening stages of games, which has turned out to haunt them in half of their League One games thus far. And it is reflected in the statistics too.

If results were counted at half time, Dons would be bottom of the table with just 15 points, two adrift of Wigan, having played more than the majority of the division too. They would have just two wins, nine draws and nine defeats to their name, with just seven goals for and 15 against.

It is a wholly different tale in the second half though, with Dons making up for their first half dramas in style. In fact, they have almost completed a total turnaround, jumping to second in the league, with only Lincoln City having a better record in the second half of games than them. In 20 second halves, they have won nine, drawn seven, losing just four, scoring 15 and conceding nine. At Stadium MK, the second half stats make for even better reading, with Dons top of the pile.

Their current 16th spot in the table, therefore makes for frustrating reading given their ability to finish games so much better than they start them. It's a bone of contention for manager Russell Martin, but he says his side have changed how they play recently to help them get over their poor starts to games in particular.

"We've worked on the start of games a lot and I think that's starting to show," he said. "The lads have shown how we have to approach the start of games. It has really hurt us this season, no doubt, but what you see in the second half is us being really dominant with the ball, making the opposition work really hard and the other team getting tired. Our fitness levels, concentration and intensity come to the fore, and we have to make more of that.

"Even when we've gone behind, we dominate the ball and spend most of the time in their half, but we haven't made the most of it."